Andruw Jones launching himself into MVP mix

Atlanta outfielder piles up five RBIs in victory.

ST. LOUIS - Andruw Jones arrived at the Busch Stadium lobby Friday afternoon to a greeting one might hear at a cash register or neighborhood bar.

"Some ID, please," a Cardinals receptionist said to Atlanta's All-Star center fielder with all the flavor of cardboard.

He explained that he didn't have any on him, and after a little hassle was eventually admitted to his office.

It was a Dangerfield-esque moment that made you want to shake the woman and inform her that Jones leads the majors in homers and might have something to say about the National League MVP by the end of the year.

Safe to say that by late Saturday afternoon she probably knew Jones without a card bearing his name and mug.

This, after he destroyed her Cards with two home runs - one a grand slam - in Atlanta's 8-1 victory in front of 48,565 at Busch Stadium that evened the series of NL heavyweights at 1.

Tim Hudson was solid in seven innings to get his eighth win of the year and 100th of his career. After a three-year absence, his split-finger fastball helped him reach a pitcher's first milestone.

"I've been afraid to use it, but all of a sudden, there it was," Hudson said.

Today, Jorge Sosa will try to beat the majors' best pitcher, 16-game winner Chris Carpenter, to give Atlanta its second series win this season against St. Louis, which was denied its 70th victory Saturday.

On Saturday, St. Louis' Jason Marquis carried a no-hitter into Jones' at-bat to lead off the fifth. A tattooed fastball into the Atlanta bullpen ended the no-no and the shutout.

With Marquis, a former Brave, starting to fade, he loaded the bases in the sixth for Jones, who then spiked his big league-leading 35th home run into the left-field seats. When his foot hit home plate, it gave him 87 RBIs, third in the NL.

To put his 2005 in perspective, Jones' career highs for homers and RBIs are 36 (2000 and 2003) and 116 (2003).

"Right now everything's clicking together," said Jones, who continued to credit his upped off-season hitting plan for his success. "That's why this is happening like this. I'm happy with how hard I worked."

Jones, 28, has 23 homers and 56 RBIs in his past 51 games dating back to June 10.

That's just about the time that injuries and youngsters trickling to the big leagues began to characterize the Braves' season.

Because of his production in that stretch, Jones' name has pulled up beside St. Louis' Albert Pujols and Chicago's Derrek Lee in MVP chatter.

Given the circumstances surrounding the team that now leads the East by more than a series, this looks like an MVP-type season to manager Bobby Cox.